Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was wonderful! Jason's parents and little sister Wendy and her cute family made the long trek from Vegas to be up here. And we are SO glad they did! We finally got to meet our newest little niece, Sophie. Oh my goodness, she is DARLING! (And I'm kicking myself that I didn't get any pics of her). And it has been such a long time since we've seen Mom and Dad Barker.......TOO long........that we couldn't have been more excited to spend some time with them! Crystal and Jerel were oh, so kind in inviting us all to their house for dinner. Everything was yummy of course! And the company.........SUPERB! Thank you Crystal for everything.........you are truly AMAZING!

I was so busy inhaling food, that I forgot all about taking pictures. :) But I did manage to get some great shots afterwards.......hanging out, playing games, eating pie, etc. It was truly a time to be thankful.........

The day after Thanksgiving we got to celebrate Crystal's birthday. We headed to Outback Steakhouse for some yummy steaks and then finished the night with some killer bowling! And by 'killer' I mean, I didn't even break 70.......(I knew I should've gone for the bumper pads). Happy Birthday Crystal--hope your day was WONDERFUL! We sure love you!

The latest project...

Our neighbor's son made 10 dollhouses for his Eagle Scout project this year. He is donating them to different families in our stake for Christmas. He did all the construction and the outside paint job. For the interior, he asked a few families in our ward to help out. So, Jason and I offered to decorate one of the houses for him. We painted, wallpapered, added flooring and furniture. It really was a lot of fun! I forgot to take some 'before' pictures, but here are some 'after' ones! I think it turned out SO cute and I hope that it will make some little girl very happy this Christmas!

Happy Birthday Sara Jayne!

Speaking of amazing family.........my little sister Sara--whom I totally look up to and admire for so many reasons--turned one year older today. Happy Birthday Sara! I sure wish we could be together to celebrate your awesome day....next year for sure! I hope you know how incredible I think you are and how much I miss and love you. I hope your day is fabulous--you deserve it!

Gratitude...

I have so many things to be thankful for....my life is truly blessed. And my greatest blessing is that of FAMILY. I was born into an amazing family, married into an amazing family and have created a pretty amazing family of my own! And today, I am especially grateful for my wonderful husband and best friend--Jason!

We have had a bunch of sickness at our house for the last couple of weeks. One day, after cleaning up endless throw-up, washing my 10th load of sheets, pillows and blankets, and bathing sick kids for the 3rd time (that day)--I was feeling a bit down. That's when Jason came walking through the door from work with a little 'pick-me-up'...

He really is so thoughtful. He told me that he thought having something pretty to look at might help get me through the rest of the week. AHHHH--I love this guy! And he was right. The beautiful flowers really helped improve my mood. The cookies didn't hurt either. :) Thank you Jason, I love you.